Every month the International Spa Association conducts a survey to hundreds of spa owners, managers, and industry professionals worldwide. In June 2009, respondents commonly cited that they have added or expanded 30-minute or "express" treatment offerings to help meet consumer demands. In fact 86% of all ISPA members offer a 30-minute (or less) treatment on their spa menu. When comparing to the same period in 2008, 46% of respondents experienced an increase in the number of shorter treatment bookings.
Today, everything is faster. Text messaging, drive-through dining, twitter, DVR, list goes on. I have a hard time reading an entire email anymore, mostly skimming through and getting the main points. Time is a one of the most precious resources today and there is not enough to go around. Creating an express treatment at your spa may be the thing you need to push your spa through the difficult economy or to push you over the top. Find ways to market your express treatment to quick moving, busy people. Market yourself on Twitter. Talk to Human Resource managers at companies looking for fringe employee benefits. Sit down for a half hour and make a list of individuals or companies you know who love spa treatments, but lack the time to spend on a one or two hour treatment at your spa. These people are busy, so send them a quick email or note letting them know you are thinking of their time and have a service that might work for them.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Spa Retail & Cracker Barrel
Growing you spa business during difficult economic times requires adding value to your customers' experiences. Spas that invest time and energy into creating a unique experience for their customers' are more profitable and stable through recessions. Create excitement in your lobby/retail area. Make it more inviting, relaxing, educational, interesting, or whatever your philosophy might be. The restaurant chain Crackel Barrel comes to mind when I think of a successful business creating an experience for their customers. Crackel Barrel's CEO Michael Woodhouse reports the average ticket for the 600 restaurants is $8.60, 3 percent up from the year before. Woodhouse also estimates one in three customers makes a retail purchase with the average price of the retail ticket at $4.00. While restaurants are complete different businesses than to spas and salons, the principle still applies. Most people believe Crackel Barrel to be a restaurant, when in reality they are a gift shop that serves food.
Like Crackel Barrel has done, analyze how you can get 20-30% of the people who come in for food (or in your case a spa treatment), make a purchase as a gift or for themselves in retail products. Is your spa an escape from reality to your customers? Evaluate how your retail lobby/retail area makes your customers feel. What is the first thing your customers see? What is the temperature relative to outside? What does it smell like in your entrance? Is there too much or too little light in the store? Music playing? All of these things make gigantic influences whether people will make a retail purchase in your spa or not. Take a huge inventory of everything about your lobby/retail area and create an online survey through http://www.surveymonkey.com/, blast that survey to every email address you have. Take the data and act! For example, if you figure out you must increase your gift purchases by 15% next quarter, have a free elegant gift wrapping service with purchases of $20 or more. Do away with all of the not so good impressions of your spa, and replace them with better experiences for your customers. Certain habits or things we force ourselves to stop doing are sometimes the most cost effective way of increasing sales for your spa retail store. Good Luck & please share your success stories with us!
Like Crackel Barrel has done, analyze how you can get 20-30% of the people who come in for food (or in your case a spa treatment), make a purchase as a gift or for themselves in retail products. Is your spa an escape from reality to your customers? Evaluate how your retail lobby/retail area makes your customers feel. What is the first thing your customers see? What is the temperature relative to outside? What does it smell like in your entrance? Is there too much or too little light in the store? Music playing? All of these things make gigantic influences whether people will make a retail purchase in your spa or not. Take a huge inventory of everything about your lobby/retail area and create an online survey through http://www.surveymonkey.com/, blast that survey to every email address you have. Take the data and act! For example, if you figure out you must increase your gift purchases by 15% next quarter, have a free elegant gift wrapping service with purchases of $20 or more. Do away with all of the not so good impressions of your spa, and replace them with better experiences for your customers. Certain habits or things we force ourselves to stop doing are sometimes the most cost effective way of increasing sales for your spa retail store. Good Luck & please share your success stories with us!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sneezers Saving your Spa
We've all heard the best and most cost effective way of marketing is through word of mouth. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective as consumers stop paying attention to all of the white noise they pass by every day. Reports from www.Consumerreports.org & various American University studies estimate the average person sees from 250-3000 advertisements per day. Is anyone paying attention anymore? Name one TV commercial and what they were selling when you watched your favorite show last night. Tell me what one radio ad said as you listened on your way to work this morning. Some marketers claim the more you see a message, the more likely you are to pay attention to it (this is usually wrong). Smart marketers have gone away from traditional advertising to spend time, energy, and money on creating word of mouth.
In September 2008, Peggy Stevens led an experiential marketing session to spa industry professionals at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Gove, Miami for an ISPA Knowledge Network & Marketplace meeting. She touched on how to extend your network word of mouth. What is going on in your community? Amazing how you can work on your island, but not know the mayor or what's going on. What articles have been written on spas in your area, and have you been mentioned in those articles?
Do you know who talks about your spa? Where they are talking? And what they are talking about? If your spa has great products, services, and people, chances are you have customers talking about you to their friends and loved ones. Let's call these people sneezers. I like to call them sneezers because when you need to, it is hard to stop a sneeze, and everyone around you can’t help but hear you. When someone sneezes good news about your business, they create the most powerful form of advertising: word of mouth. If you find out one of your customers sent you a referral, do you reward them by giving them a discount, free product, or at least a thank you note? People are talking online about you, find them! There are number of rating websites along with Google reviews where people review, recommend, or not recommend your spa services. I am confident you can figure out how to get a dozens sneezers in your business to talk online about how great you are. Some great spas do not need to ask their loyalists to sneeze, other spas do. If they are not sneezing about you, you must ask them...right now...today. Sometimes nothing gets done until you ask.
In September 2008, Peggy Stevens led an experiential marketing session to spa industry professionals at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Gove, Miami for an ISPA Knowledge Network & Marketplace meeting. She touched on how to extend your network word of mouth. What is going on in your community? Amazing how you can work on your island, but not know the mayor or what's going on. What articles have been written on spas in your area, and have you been mentioned in those articles?
Do you know who talks about your spa? Where they are talking? And what they are talking about? If your spa has great products, services, and people, chances are you have customers talking about you to their friends and loved ones. Let's call these people sneezers. I like to call them sneezers because when you need to, it is hard to stop a sneeze, and everyone around you can’t help but hear you. When someone sneezes good news about your business, they create the most powerful form of advertising: word of mouth. If you find out one of your customers sent you a referral, do you reward them by giving them a discount, free product, or at least a thank you note? People are talking online about you, find them! There are number of rating websites along with Google reviews where people review, recommend, or not recommend your spa services. I am confident you can figure out how to get a dozens sneezers in your business to talk online about how great you are. Some great spas do not need to ask their loyalists to sneeze, other spas do. If they are not sneezing about you, you must ask them...right now...today. Sometimes nothing gets done until you ask.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Stress in the Spa
A recent survey from the American Massage Therapy Association found that 59 percent of Americans are more stressed this year than last year. Stress is also the reason most Americans got their last massage. The number of Americans who received massage for stress has jumped from 22 percent to 36 percent this year. The International Spa Association shows similar findings as massage being the most requested spa treatment. Stress relief is still the No. 1 reasons people go to spas.
So why do people visit your spa? To relax? Freshen up? Calm down? What are you trying to convey your spa brand to be? If you are striving to make your spa a serene place for stressed people to come, chances are you are getting through the bad economy better than most. If you are not creating a stress free atmosphere, you need to find out what value you add and do it better than any other spa.
If stress is the No. 1 reason people attend spas, why aren't all of the ever increasing stressed population knocking down your door? Spa's need to get rid of everything that does not convey a stress-free environment (if stress-free is part of your philosophy). What creates negative impressions and messages in your spa that can give your customers anxiety and stress? Is it too bright or loud? Is your staff too pushy on retail sales? Spas need to address all of the negative impressions that may come up with every customer. If you find that people have a hard time finding your location-that is a negative impression which creates more stress. I recently came across an International Spa Association study surveying why people don't go to spas. 19 percent of people feel out of place, 19 percent don't know exactly what to expect, & 12 percent felt that a hard sales approach made them feel uncomfortable at the spa.
So why do people visit your spa? To relax? Freshen up? Calm down? What are you trying to convey your spa brand to be? If you are striving to make your spa a serene place for stressed people to come, chances are you are getting through the bad economy better than most. If you are not creating a stress free atmosphere, you need to find out what value you add and do it better than any other spa.
If stress is the No. 1 reason people attend spas, why aren't all of the ever increasing stressed population knocking down your door? Spa's need to get rid of everything that does not convey a stress-free environment (if stress-free is part of your philosophy). What creates negative impressions and messages in your spa that can give your customers anxiety and stress? Is it too bright or loud? Is your staff too pushy on retail sales? Spas need to address all of the negative impressions that may come up with every customer. If you find that people have a hard time finding your location-that is a negative impression which creates more stress. I recently came across an International Spa Association study surveying why people don't go to spas. 19 percent of people feel out of place, 19 percent don't know exactly what to expect, & 12 percent felt that a hard sales approach made them feel uncomfortable at the spa.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Fresh Spa News
Finally! I'm online talking about what we have come to know what makes the day spa biz click. Whether you are running a large day spa, a nail tech renting a booth, or want tips from an fellow entrepreneur, this blog might be for you! For this first post, I will be short and sweet introducing our company Salt of the Earth.
Salt of the Earth customizes our down-to-earth bath and body products for every customer. You get what you want, how you want it, straight from our own little “workshop.” Natural salt, sugar and grapeseed oil-based product are infused with any scent that strikes your fancy – giving you unlimited combinations to make your spa experience totally unique.
We believe our purpose is to help every spa professionals businesses flourish with professional, quality, handcrafted, & fresh products and we hold a commitment to education. Let us know what you need, and we’ll be happy to help!
Salt of the Earth customizes our down-to-earth bath and body products for every customer. You get what you want, how you want it, straight from our own little “workshop.” Natural salt, sugar and grapeseed oil-based product are infused with any scent that strikes your fancy – giving you unlimited combinations to make your spa experience totally unique.
We believe our purpose is to help every spa professionals businesses flourish with professional, quality, handcrafted, & fresh products and we hold a commitment to education. Let us know what you need, and we’ll be happy to help!
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